In Argentina, two local journalists attacked within a week

August 21, 2012 4:59 PM ET

New
York, August 21, 2012--Authorities in Argentina must immediately investigate violent
attacks on two local journalists and ensure the perpetrators are brought to
justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The unrelated attacks
occurred within the space of a week.

"Local
Argentine journalists have been vulnerable to these kinds of attacks in the
past," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas.
"Authorities must act decisively to clamp down on this criminal behavior and
prosecute those responsible."

Unidentified
assailants threw a Molotov cocktail at the car of Silvio Novelino, director of
the monthly newspaper El Pepirí, at around 3
a.m. Monday, the journalist told the local TV
station Misiones Cuatro. The vehicle was in the garage adjacent to Novelino's
house in the city of Bernardo de Irigoyen in northeastern Misiones province, he
said. Novelino was not injured in the attack, but the fire caused damage to his
car, news reports said.

Novelino
said his newspaper frequently published critical articles on issues such as
local corruption and that he believed the attackers could be amonga number of people who were upset by
his reporting, according to news reports. The journalist said he had "gotten
used" to receiving threats for his work. Jorge Héctor Munaretto, chief of
police in the province, told the local press
group Foro de Periodismo Argentino (FOPEA) that Novelino's house was now under
police protection.

Another
journalist was attacked and threatened six days earlier. Hernán García,
director of the local radio station FM UNO, said the mayor of the town of
Sancti Spíritu, in the province of Santa Fe, had summoned him to a meeting
outside town on August 14, the journalist reportedon FM UNO. García said Abel Fontenla hit
him in the face and threatened him with a gun, saying he would kill him. García
said he recorded the attack, and had uploaded it to the station's website. In
the recording, an unidentified voice can be heard saying, "I swear I'll kill
you. ... I came to kill you." The journalist said he reported the attack to local
authorities.

Fontenla
denied the allegations and said he knew nothing of the recording, according to
local news reports. A search of
the mayor's house did not turn up any weapons, according to news reports. García
had recently used his radio station to call on Fontenla to "show the balance
sheets to the Sancti Spíritu community,"
and be more transparent, according to news reports.

CPJ
has documented attacks on
local journalists in Argentina in recent months. On May 29, Gustavo Tinetti,
host for "Despertate" on Cadena Nueve radio station and a reporter
for the station's website, was threatened by an
unidentified gunman who walked into the station's office.

For
more data and analysis on Argentina, visit CPJ's Argentina page here.

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